The Emerald Dawn return with a stunning concept album
The Emerald Dawn return in 2023 with their fifth studio album, In Time. The album follows the work from this Cornish collective which cemented their reputation in the worldwide progressive community’s mindset, 2021’s To Touch the Sky, an astounding album recorded under the most trying Covid lockdown situation.
The Emerald Dawn were formed in Edinburgh by Katrina “Tree” Stewart and Alan “Ally” Carter in 2010 before moving to gorgeous St. Ives and were joined by Tom Jackson on drums (I hope to have an in-depth interview with the band shortly on this website to give some background to this move). Since 2019’s Nocturne, they have been joined by fretless grooves maestro, David Greenaway.
From the get-go, there has been an ambition about this band which should bring a knowing smile to progressive music fans. As ever, I hesitate to assign meaningless progressive sub-genres such as “symphonic”, “neo”, or (worst) “crossover” to them. So, how about sweeping, panoramic, ambitious, or modern? Further, each album has brought with it a progression in the core output, the sound of a band not prepared to sit on their laurels, but to bring us something different with each release.
In Time is an album about time impacting upon us as mortal beings. “Steal a moment in time and make it last forever”. Time marches on and we can be timeless, spaceless, and senseless. To me, living in the moment, and soaking in a work which stretches a concept.
This website exists for the finer cultural moments which bring joy and writing rising above the mundane or societal manipulations in corporate mainstream media. In Time is blatantly one such work, an aural and visual delight – see the stunning Stewart artwork.
The first symphony, Out Of Time, has five movements, namely A Moment in Time, Temporal Disruption, Ouroboros Affronted, Temporal Reconciliation, and A Moment in Time Recalled. Epic really does not come very close to describing a slab of music over 23 minutes long. Starting with a gorgeous piano overlaid with synths, the band then introduce Tree’s ethereal and frankly stunning voice. This followed by synths which make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. A guitar solo setting a scene and then pushing it along. The voice rises an octave with an ever so slightly distinct pause in proceedings before the Temporal Disruption kicks in with the main guitar theme, but at its heart a huge melodious bassline leading a jazz infused journey alongside ethereal keys, the percussion beneath thumping along. Carter’s guitar screams with the ever present piano and rhythm section pulsing with Tree stealing moments in time.
This segues into Ouroboros Affronted. Ouroboros (literally “tail eating” in Greek) entered Western philosophy as a symbol of eternal renewal, with the concept in Gnostic belief of a serpent swallowing its tail representing eternity and the soul of the world. The drums take the lead with keys overlaying a sense of doom alongside Tree vocally introducing the middle eastern mystery, which is exemplified by the first sound of Carter’s saxophone representing the mythical serpent spinning around and around without end. This passage is stunning, thoughtful, and extremely clever, at turns repressed and at others expansive with the main musical theme of the suite reasserting itself strongly as we move into the Temporal Reconciliation, bass thumping, keyboards soaring, electric guitar riffing before all join together into a joyous symphonic noise very cleverly moving between loud and pastoral, the latter especially when Tree mournfully reintroduces the lyrical theme and thus A Moment in Time is recalled to close an exceptional piece which never once loses the listener’s interest or attention and is, simply, a work of genius.
How do you follow that? With Timeless, a very clever piece of music which speaks to this reviewer of that strange segue way between daytime consciousness and nighttime oblivion, its cold embrace perhaps a regular reminder of our ultimate mortality. This track is over fourteen minutes long and its introduction prompts memories of Genesis 1980’s music before a smoky sax enters and blows the impression away completely and transports you to a misbegotten bar with ethereal keys and groove laden drum & bass. This gives way to a reprise of the main album musical theme, but with a far meaner bass and darker tint in the guitar, this itself then moving into a gorgeously understated marching passage – it has to be said that the way this band change moods and themes is very impressive, and just as you are settling down, Tree re-enters and vocally brings us the darkness of oblivion we fall into nightly. When this ends, the bass underscores the most beautiful flute solo you have heard this side of 1975. If you ever wondered why Tree is so highly regarded, this is why. The final passage of the track gives way to a deep psych delight with influences ranging from Floyd to Moodies to Camel to Supertramp to, well, a unique Emerald Dawn take on all of them. This is a toe-tapping delight, and you are lost in the sheer depth of the music.
The March of Time is, in contrast, a relatively short affair just over eight minutes long. The grandiose keyboards signal the marching drums and pulsating bass. The Emerald Dawn treat us to an otherworldly prog rock celebration of time marching forever onwards, and it is, by the way, here that you appreciate just how much the band have strived to move forward and not merely replicate past glories. There is a wall of sound before the dead stop and a gorgeous bass groove alongside sophisticated percussion which strongly drive what can only be described as a psych-jazz infused keyboard lead. When this fades nicely, the overarching theme returns, with Tree singing a simple, but deeply effective, As Time Goes Marching On with a wailing guitar underpinned by throbbing bass and percussion. This is a hugely effective end to a deeply impressive concept album.
The album will be available for pre-release orders in August, and I will post a notice here and on my Facebook page when this is confirmed. As yet, we do not have any samples to give you, but these will also follow, including a single version of A Moment in Time. For now, why not take some time out of less worthy activities such as work and sit down, watch, and listen to the band giving you a stunning performance of To Touch The Sky below – an amuse bouche to keep you going until the official release of a work I believe will set the progressive world alight.
The band’s website is at https://www.theemeralddawn.net/ and their Bandcamp page is at https://theemeralddawn.bandcamp.com/music If you are unfamiliar with previous releases, now is a great time to acquaint yourselves with them.
The Emerald Dawn are a special band, and In Time is a special album. It would be a huge surprise if it did not top several Top Ten lists at the end of 2023.